LIBRARIANS are among the most enthusiastic users of computers and the Internet and much of their workday is spent enabling patrons to use this electronic resource. But some of them are a bit uneasy about an innovation in the Naperville, Ill., public library that requires computer users to log on, not only with a library card or password, but also a fingerprint.
The Christian Science Monitor, in a story about this practice, notes: "The library, like other Internet providers nationwide, has realized computer users aren't always who they say they are. And the technology it will use to check up on them is fairly simple - patrons will press a glass-topped scanner."
Often children swap identities in an effort to get around their parents' Internet filters on the home computer. But found in the world of cyberspace are users sending spam, checking child pornography sites, or trolling for individual users' passwords and bank account numbers.
For that reason, many users are reluctant to entrust such data to computers for fear that they may become victims of identity theft.
Despite the librarians' assurances that they will control the potential invasion of privacy by deleting files daily, not spying on files being used by patrons, and the like, others in the profession worry about such tactics and suggest that it is very difficult to draw the line between preserving orderly access to computers and invading the privacy of those who use them.
It may soon become impossible to maintain even the semblance of preserving the privacy of users. The rapid expansion of wireless technology makes it even easier for hackers to mask their identity and ferret out confidential data.Conceivably, all the world can be one's cyberstage, although the sheer volume of such communications may make it difficult. Meanwhile, as you log on it may be necessary to post a sign for users: "Smile. You're on candid camera." The right of privacy seems to be in full retreat in this land of the free.
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